C3 to invest up to $10M for Mindanao expansion

CUSTOMER relationship management (CRM) solutions provider C3/CustomerContactChannels plans to invest about $5 million to $10 million (P249.8 million to P499.6 million) to expand its facility in Mindanao in the next two years, the chief executive officer said.

“In the next two years, I think we will invest about $5 million to $10 million for the expansion of [the]facility. We are looking at Davao purely because of the investment opportunities that are in the region,” Sudhir Agarwal, global chief executive officer of C3 and founder of Sunrise BPO, told a press conference on Thursday.

“Also, we are seeking to increase our headcount in the Philippines to twofold. The company plans to significantly increase the headcount from 2,800 to around 5,600 in next two years,” he said.

He said C3 will strengthen its operations in the Philippines and globally following its recent acquisition by private equity investor Everstone Capital and co-investor Sunrise BPO.

According to Agarwal, C3’s global revenues are likely to double by 2022 as it expands into new geographies and enters new service lines such as back-office processing. It also plans on providing next-gen CRM solutions using Business Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence.

“In the Philippines, we are enjoying revenue [growth]of over 50 percent while globally we have witnessed growth of more than 60 percent over the past six years. The Philippines is crucial for us, not just in the region but for our global operations as well,” he said.

As part of its aggressive growth agenda, C3 is looking to increase its worldwide employee count from 8,500 to over 18,000 in the next five years, he said.

“We plan to expand operations to eight countries from three currently,” Agarwal said.

Everstone Capital and Sunrise BPO completed the acquisition of C3 from US-based Stone Point Capital in December 2016, and formed Everise Holdings, based out of Singapore. Everise Holdings holds 100-percent of C3 and named Agarwal global CEO of C3. The company now plans to expand to other area with the support of Everise.

Atul Kapur, co-founder and managing partner of Everstone Capital, said, “Everstone is thrilled to support C3 in its goal to become a global CRM powerhouse. C3 has shown robust growth and Everise is ready to grow it organically as well as inorganically in the coming years—both in the Philippines and in other geographies.”

“We are excited to be in the Philippines, which is a key hub for the global BPO industry. We are looking forward to the robust growth of the CRM/BPO industry in this country, which is witnessing impressive economic growth,” added Agarwal.

Kapur noted that conditions in the Philippines are very conducive for C3’s expansion plans.

“The Philippines has a stable business environment, impressive human capital, an English-speaking workforce, and strong economic growth,” he said.